ABSTRACT
This study examined the influence of shared family identity on the association between emerging adult sibling use of the positivity, openness, assurances, networks, and tasks relationship maintenance behaviors and perceived relational quality. Participants were 132 undergraduate students enrolled in a variety of undergraduate communication courses at a large Mid-Atlantic university. Using ordinary least squares (OLS) multiple regression analyses, it was found that shared family identity moderated the association between emerging adult sibling use of the openness relationship maintenance behavior and perceived relational quality but failed to moderate the association between emerging adult sibling use of the positivity, assurances, networks, and tasks behaviors and perceived relational quality. Future researchers should examine the influence of parental treatment on children as a way to further explore the relationship between sibling use of relationship maintenance behaviors and relational outcomes.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. In each analysis, none of the five covariates (i.e., participant age and sex, targeted sibling age and sex, geographic distance between participant and targeted sibling) reached statistical significance.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Scott A. Myers
Scott A. Myers (Ph.D., Kent State University) is a Professorsand Peggy Rardin McConnell Endowed Teaching Chair in thesDepartment of Communication Studies at West Virginia University.